If you’re not sure what makes for a good customer success manager, think of someone you know who is magnetic — someone whose presence draws others in.
At the heart of this work is an affinity for relationships. It’s an art form that requires a flair for human connection, focus and personalization. Few can build and foster relationships the way customer success people do.
When Christina Dely joined Braze, a customer engagement platform that helps connect consumers and brands, she not only shifted industries from digital advertising to marketing technology, but she quickly leveled up through leadership roles in what was a relatively new group. “We were a small but mighty team, and diving into the deep end was the only way through,” she said.
From team lead to senior manager of enterprise customer success, Dely faced challenges as she learned the more technical aspects of Braze’s products and integrations. But for her, that was part of the thrill of adapting to an exciting new industry. It was with the support of her teammates that she found outlets for exploration and hands-on opportunities to learn about everything from application programming interfaces to software development kits.
Beyond the duties of her role — including building out the company’s San Francisco-based customer success organization — Dely’s connections within Braze have become the golden ticket for both her personal and professional development. “Building these relationships has been fundamental to my success at Braze,” she said. As rewarding as the company’s vision and products are, it’s those very relationships that have solidified Dely’s place on the team.
Built In San Francisco sat down with Dely to learn more about the career path that ultimately led her to Braze and the hurdles she encountered while upping her technical game. Along the way, she made one particularly valuable connection that went on to alter the trajectory of her approach to professional management.
Tell us about your current role and the career path that brought you to Braze.
In 2017, I decided to make an industry shift from digital advertising to marketing technology. I could see all the ways in which technology was trending, and I wanted to jump on the opportunity to explore this exciting and rapidly expanding space. My focus was to identify a reliable platform, collaborative culture and organization that truly cares about its employees — and I found all of this in Braze. As one of the earliest members of the West Customer Success team, I immediately saw an opportunity and pathway to leadership. Within a year, I moved into a team lead role, and subsequently into a senior manager position, leading an enterprise customer success team. Four years later, I could not be happier at Braze. Working for a company with a strong vision and innovative products is extremely rewarding, but it is the people who keep me here.
How did you develop the technical skills needed to step into this role?
Shifting industries was definitely challenging. I had a foundation in marketing and apps, but there was a lot to learn about product nuances, along with what could and could not be customized with various integrations. Developing cross-functional partnerships allowed me to obtain a crash course into application programming interfaces, software development kits and predictive intelligence. Many of these relationships have turned into long-standing friendships.
Another significant growth moment was building out our success organization in San Francisco. Braze was booming, and upon moving into a leadership role, I had to hire top talent and build out a robust onboarding program. Working with an agile group, we took inventory of informational gaps, identified the concepts that were most difficult to grasp and constructed a powerful customer success onboarding program to ramp up new hires at scale.
The support of an extremely successful woman leader gave me permission to bring my own spin on personal management to the table.”
How have you continued to develop your technical skills in your current position?
My journey into people management at Braze has been the most rewarding experience in my career by far. I care deeply about every member of my team and what success looks like for them. But it wasn’t the most seamless of transitions. It is only natural to feel imposter syndrome when managing this kind of transition. One day you’re an individual contributor, the next you find yourself in charge of an entire team.
To combat this feeling, I reached out to a woman in leadership in our sales organization whom I very much admired and asked her to be my mentor. I wanted to understand how she dealt with various decisions and unexpected challenges, and more specifically, how she came to be such a strong manager while simultaneously exuding empathy and humor. Finding the support of an extremely successful woman leader has given me the permission to bring confidence and my own spin on personal management to the table.
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